The offseason has officially started and the Sox made their first move today. They announced earlier today that they were picking up Clay Buchholz's $13 million dollar club option.

Buchholz is back, but for how long?
Source: http://www.thesportsbank.net

But what happens next with Buchholz? Just because they picked his option up doesn't mean he will be in this rotation next season. Its been reported that several teams are interested in acquiring Buchholz from the Sox. Red Sox fans know very well the injury risk he brings, but we know how good he can be. He played 18 games last season and has averaged 20.6 games over the last three years, so you know he won't make all of his starts. So why would teams be interested? In his 18 games this season he posted a 3.26 ERA and 8.5 strikeouts per game, thats the production that draws some teams attention.

Now the return for Buchholz would be interesting considering his ability to pitch but his inability to stay on the field. The Globe's Nick Cafardo came up with a few options:

We know that Boston’s depth will be useful in trying to acquire a top-flight reliever. Kansas City for instance, may lose outfielder Alex Gordon, and it has been interested in Jackie Bradley Jr. for two years. Would Boston deal Bradley for a reliever such as Luke Hochevar or Kelvin Herrera? Would San Diego be interested in Buchholz in a package for closer Craig Kimbrel?

You might even get teams to overpay for Buchholz. The Red Sox appear to have a major chip here.

Taking Gordon from the Royals and then sending Bradley to them and taking one of their relievers sounds like music to my ears. And if we could use Buchholz to acquire a top notch reliever, like Kimbrel or Chapman, our bullpen would see a major improvement. Either way the Red Sox have a lot of open options this offseason, and this is the first of many moves to come.